Tag: Tasty Tuesday

Good Morning World and thanks for tuning in to the penultimate post day here on Planet Magnet. After this post there will be only one more and that won’t be for a couple of weeks as I tell the story of my walk along Britain’s oldest Road.

That means this is post number 499!

Quite an incredible feat but one that I suppose I am quite proud to have achieved.

I have always said that I would share my life with you guys for the next 499 posts, after which I would walk the Ridgeway for the Charity HENRY and make my 500th and final post about that very walk.

It is hard to consider the person I was when I started out on the journey. Some people don’t even recognise me as I have changed so much physically, others don’t recognise me because I have changed so much mentally.

Regardless of which is more significant I think we must all agree that since my surgery and subsequent life change, this person…

With My Mum!

Is no longer anything like this person….

If we consider way back when I started this little blog after advice to do so, I was incredibly unfit, unhappy, lonely, I was letting life pass me by and I was disengaged.

No more though.

What a difference 18mths and the help and support of medical professionals and all of you guys here on Word Press who come to read my words every day. Some of you read quietly and fly under the radar and some of you read and comment and encourage. Regardless of which camp you fall into, I appreciate you all so very very much and I thank you all very much from the bottom of my heart.

You guys have made the incredible challenge of 499 posts a possibility and I am so happy that I have completed what I set out to do I think all I need do now is wish myself Bon Voyage, Bon Chance and Bon Temps for the next week of walking. You will be able to follow my updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram…..

So until I write and publish the story of my walk, I shall leave you with these words from T.S Elliots Little Gidding (pointed TO me by Osyth from Half Baked in Paradise but here mixed up by ME) and hopefully they will sum up all I have been trying to say…

“To make an end is to make a beginning so always remember last years thoughts belong to last years language whereas next years words await another voice”

So ’till the last time,

Stay out of the fridge.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow this link and donate to my just giving page.

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet. I trust today’s hump day see’s you as excited and apprehensive as it does me 🙂

I am these things because I have fast approaching, one of the biggest challenges ever set to me in my entire life and I hope that you guys are well and truly behind me and are no longer putting off any sponsorship or donations and are quite happy helping out in whatever way you can.

Don’t forget to follow this link and donate to my just giving page. You will be pleased to note that I have reduced the target down to £2500 as the entire walk has been scaled back to what I had originally started off with, just me and Archie and a very long walk…..! Yes there will be parts that I hope to speak to the media and yes there will be parts that I hope to walk with others but I think in all reality it it has now dawned on me that I am not the most important person on the planet (I know, hard to believe right?) and that I am trying to raise this money off of my own back so certain adjustments were felt necessary in order to feel more comfortable with my efforts I have also decided to travel each day so I shall be taken to my route in the morning and collected in the evening. The next morning I shall be taken back to the previous evenings collection point so NO shortcuts will be taken AT ALL!!!

Anyway, a short update for you there….

Back to me and the final instalment of my story.

Last time I left you with the words Breakdown at Land Rover. This was in April 2008 and I don’t mean a mechanical vehicle breakdown, I mean my own mental health deterioration.

Not the happiest time of my life for sure.

I know I have talked about bullying at work before so I shall not go into that now but suffice to say that at this point there was some of that and what made it so amazing is that usually I would never have stood for it and would have stood my ground and dealt with it.

This time I didn’t.

I crawled into my shell and became a hermit.

Unable to leave it because of anxiety and panic attacks.

And as I ignored my friends, food became my friend.

Not good food though.

Takeaway Indians, Chinese, Pizza, Fizzy Drinks etc etc.

Not a good part of my story for sure.

But it still happened.

During this time I had several small business’s of my own, including iPhone and iPod repair, Home Audio Visual Installation and a very lightweight version of my new Handy Man business.

This was all up until I broke my leg.

And that brings us to the start of my blog so if you are really interested in learning my then simply go to the home page and you will get my entire story there, celebrity and all…. 😉

‘Till tomorrow,

Stay out of the fridge.

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet. I trust this hump day finds you, like me, simply getting on with life and doing your best amidst all of the things that are sent to try us on a daily basis.

One thing I have found since my weight loss journey (I hate that term but it does sum up the past couple of years very well!) began is that everyday we are constantly being tried and tested no matter how lovely our lives may appear to be. People I know whom have (what can only be considered as) everything are having their (very threadbare) patience tried and tested as much as those who consider themselves to have nothing.
Personally, I am tried on a regular basis with food choices and although am on the whole so much better and healthier than I was, I can still make mistakes and eat too many Jaffa Cakes, have too much chocolate or want Fish and Chips over and above all the healthy options that are out there.

I know we all suffer from this kind of problem and so for that reason I let things go. I know I have made a mistake BUT I simply get on with it and know I will do better next time.

But it is not always about food is it? For years I would wallow in my own woe and be depressed about things not going exactly right. I would be annoyed about silly things I thought I could not change such as my football team, my diet, my work ethic, my creativity, my lack of money, my living conditions, the fact my TV wasn’t HD etc etc…

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet.

Today we continue with the life story of The Fridge Magnet as I travel on from Auckland N.Z to Maryland U.S.A…..

So I left you last time (apologies for taking so long to get back here) as I was leaving Auckland, New Zealand.

I recall saying my goodbyes to Jean, John and the children at around mid afternoon when I went through to the departure lounge to catch the first leg of my flight across to Maryland. I think it must have been around 8pm when I took off because it is a 9 hour flight and when I landed in Honolulu it was about 7am of the previous day. Yes, that’s right. The previous day!

All because I went through the international dateline and was able to experience how lonely February 14th can be when you have to see it twice….. 😉

So I arrived in Honolulu and was amazed to find that it was effectively 7 hours before I actually took off from Auckland.

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet.

Today I have decided to write a post answering an inquiry I had from a chap by the name of Jay from Arizona.

It went like this…..

“Hello from Arizona!
I started reading your blog and found it when I was searching for posts about life after a gastric sleeve.
I am intent on having the surgery done myself, and was glad to find your post below where you talk about your new portion size prior to having the surgery.

This is one of my concerns as many of the thoughts you wrote about are some concerns I have myself – such as taking to large of bites and causing pain, having to learn to slowly chew my food rather than bite, chew and swallow…..not being able to gulp down large amounts of water when very thirsty, etc…

Now I suppose you wrote that post based on everything you read, and others you spoke to about their experiences. But what I am curious is if you could share if your actual experiences were different from what you were expecting? In addition how is it in comparison to eating now many months after surgery?
I suppose allot of things change and your able to get acclimated to your new stomach and your habits, and with so new experiences are occurring daily when you eat.

Hoping you can take a moment to share this experience with me, I would be thankful as I am planning my own journey”

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet!

I trust today’s version of Tuesday finds you as up beat and optimistic as it finds me! I am in a good mood. Today I go to see the psychologist for my 6 monthly head check since my weight loss surgery and then I see the Bariatric team to discuss the next twelve months. I was actually supposed to do this just after the year anniversary in March but I had to cancel due to illness. However, today I am feeling fit and ready to go and therefore I shall attend and get all of the information I require about my bloods and heavy legs but I am feeling better day on day so am now looking forward to the walk and the future of my new business.

I know today is usually Tasty Tuesday but unfortunately I have not had time to prepare a new recipe. I also know that I had promised to give you part 7 of “Looking back” and that was supposed to be launched yesterday.

For these two fails I apologise. I trust you guys understand why and will always remain my WP Pals even though I have been telling little porkies…. 😉

So then, my new business.

Well that to be honest has been the reason why I have not managed to post for the past couple of days and possibly the main reason why I am feeling better day on day. I feel as though I have a purpose once again that can dictate my future. Where I am in control and doing things I WANT to do and not HAVE to do.

Share this:

Like this:

Good Morning world and thanks for tuning in to another day here on Planet Magnet and what a lovely day it is looking. As you will see in the video, the sun is shining a little and I am ready to take on the world – well sort of….